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Wednesday, 20 Sep 2023

Written Answers Nos. 148-154

Defective Building Materials

Questions (148)

Joe McHugh

Question:

148. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Finance if he considered waiving VAT charges on households that decided to do repair works on their MICA affected home, but decided not to go through the mica redress scheme; if he considered waiving VAT charges for those who are carrying out repair works to their homes within the scheme, taking into account these householders are struggling with existing mortgages and high interest loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39542/23]

View answer

Written answers

The Deputy should note that VAT is a tax on consumption and is applied to supplies made by a person and not to supplies received by them. This is a feature of the VAT system itself, and as the Deputy may be aware, it is not possible under EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply, to introduce VAT exemption based on services received, nor to introduce an exemption based on the recipient of a service. Therefore it is not possible to waive VAT on repair costs associated with properties affected by MICA.

Tax Code

Questions (149)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

149. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider reducing the VAT rate for cartographers and map publishers to 0%, in line with newspapers, given the small number of cartographers and map publishers in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39548/23]

View answer

Written answers

As the Deputy will be aware, it is a longstanding practice that the Minister for Finance does not comment, in advance of the Budget, on any tax matters that might be the subject of Budget decisions.

Housing Provision

Questions (150)

Mattie McGrath

Question:

150. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Finance for a breakdown of Home Building Finance Ireland's funding support to developers for the construction of housing, by county, annually, since its establishment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39585/23]

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Written answers

HBFI’s total loan approvals from inception to the end of June 2023 were €1.437bn. This approved funding is across 117 projects, in 22 counties, and can support the delivery of 6,357 homes. Of the 117 projects with funding approved, 66 projects were either under construction or completed as at 30 June 2023. These projects will support the delivery of 4,258 new homes.

The breakdown of approvals by county by year is shown below:

Total Approvals

Breakdown by year (€m)

County

No of Approvals

No of Homes

Value €m

2019

2020

2021

2022

6 months to June 2023

Carlow

1

22

€3

€3

€0

€0

€0

€0

Cavan

1

7

€1

€0

€0

€0

€0

€1

Clare

3

43

€8

€2

€0

€4

€0

€2

Cork

21

932

€135

€14

€11

€21

€58

€31

Donegal

2

82

€9

€0

€3

€6

€0

€0

Dublin

19

1,898

€539

€9

€191

€193

€113

€33

Galway

4

196

€53

€0

€6

€47

€0

€0

Kerry

4

175

€33

€10

€0

€5

€18

€0

Kildare

7

536

€81

€35

€15

€11

€14

€6

Kilkenny

1

126

€42

€0

€0

€0

€42

€0

Laois

3

116

€21

€12

€0

€9

€0

€0

Limerick

2

144

€34

€0

€0

€0

€16

€18

Louth

11

556

€106

€3

€36

€23

€25

€19

Mayo

5

92

€15

€0

€5

€10

€0

€0

Meath

11

561

€106

€10

€4

€82

€0

€10

Monaghan

1

12

€1

€1

€0

€0

€0

€0

Offaly

5

143

€39

€0

€10

€9

€14

€5

Tipperary

2

46

€9

€0

€0

€0

€6

€3

Waterford

3

81

€20

€0

€0

€12

€0

€8

Wexford

4

134

€30

€0

€3

€0

€10

€17

Wicklow

5

406

€143

€8

€3

€8

€96

€28

Westmeath

2

49

€9

€2

€0

€0

€0

€7

Total

117

6,357

€1,437

€108

€287

€440

€413

€189

Tax Data

Questions (151)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

151. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the estimated cost of not proceeding with the legislated increase in carbon tax to take effect in October 2023, for 2023 and 2024, respectively, VAT inclusive. [39615/23]

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Written answers

I am advised by Revenue that the estimated cost of not proceeding with the legislated increase in carbon tax, scheduled to take effect in October 2023, for 2023 and 2024, is shown in the following table.

Year

Excise €m

VAT €m

Total €m

2023

11.8

1.2

13.0

2024

85.6

8.7

94.3

This estimate is based on the most recently available data and does not account for any future behavioural changes.

Tax Code

Questions (152)

Paul Kehoe

Question:

152. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Finance if agricultural pre-cast concrete products will be included in a legislative amendment in the forthcoming Finance Bill to deal with how the concrete levy impacts on the sale of certain pre-cast products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39616/23]

View answer

Written answers

As the Deputy is aware, arising from a November 2021 Government decision that a levy be imposed on the construction sector to contribute towards the cost of the Mica Redress Scheme, the Defective Concrete Products Levy was announced as part of Budget 2023.

The Defective Concrete Products Levy (“DCPL”) applies, at a rate of 5% of the market value of the concrete products within scope of the levy, at the point of first supply of those products in the State on or after 1 September 2023. The levy applies to both supplies within the State and into the State (from outside the State) to ensure fairness of application of the levy.

The following products come within the scope of the levy:

(a) products, containing concrete, that are required to comply with the following EU Harmonised Standards (or adapted national version of such Harmonised Standard), as set out in Schedule 36 to the TCA 1997 -

- EN 771-3:2011+A1:2015 Specification for masonry units - Part 3: Aggregate concrete masonry units (Dense and lightweight aggregates), and

- EN 771-4:2011+A1:2015 Specification for masonry units - Part 4: Autoclaved aerated concrete masonry units,

and

(b) ready to pour concrete which is chargeable to Value Added Tax at the rate of 13.5% under paragraph 16(1) of Part 4 of Schedule 3 of the Value Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010.

Products, including pre-cast products, not falling within the above outlined EU Harmonised Standards are not within the scope of the levy and therefore the levy does not apply on supplies of such products.

Under the legislation giving effect to the DCPL, all supplies of ready to pour concrete are, from 1 September 2023, within the scope of the levy including where the concrete is utilised in the manufacture of pre-cast products. This is the case regardless of whether the supplier of the ready to pour concrete is in the State or the ready to pour concrete is sourced from outside the State. Where the supplier is in the State, it is the supplier who is the chargeable person for the purposes of the DCPL. Where a person acquires ready to pour concrete from outside the State, and uses it in the course of a business in the State, that person is the chargeable person for the purposes of the DPCL.

While there are no exemptions from the levy provided in the legislation as enacted, I announced on Wednesday 6th of September my intention to bring forward legislation in Finance Bill 2023 to exclude the value of pouring concrete used in the manufacture of pre-cast products from the scope of the levy with effect from 1 January 2024. I intend to introduce a refund scheme for the interim period of 1 September 2023 to 31 December 2023. Details of the amendments will be published in Finance Bill 2023.

Further information on the DCPL, including the obligations of a chargeable person, is available on the Revenue website at: www.revenue.ie/en/self-assessment-and-self-employment/dcpl/index.aspx. My Department will also respond to all queries it has received directly regarding the DCPL.

EU Directives

Questions (153)

Holly Cairns

Question:

153. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance to detail the preparations being undertaken by his Department in advance of the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882); the guidance that is being issued by his Department to organisations and businesses in advance of the enactment of the directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39667/23]

View answer

Written answers

The transposition of the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) is being undertaken by my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman TD.

Since the Directive applies to consumer banking services, my officials have been engaging with and assisting officials from Minister O’Gorman’s Department to facilitate the transposition of the Directive.

I can assure the Deputy that my officials will continue to provide whatever assistance may be needed to progress and implement this important legislation.

Housing Schemes

Questions (154)

Alan Dillon

Question:

154. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Finance if the help-to-buy scheme will be extended to second-hand homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39748/23]

View answer

Written answers

Help to Buy (HTB) is a scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. The incentive offers a refund on Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in the State over the previous four years, subject to limits outlined in Section 477C of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

An increase in the supply of new housing remains a central and priority aim of Government policy. For this reason, HTB is specifically designed to encourage an increase in demand for new build homes in order to support the construction of an additional supply of such properties. For a property to qualify for HTB, it must be new or converted for use as a dwelling, having not previously been used as a dwelling.

A move to include properties which were previously used as residential homes/second-hand properties within the scope of the scheme itself would not improve the effectiveness of the relief; on the contrary, it could serve to dilute the incentive effect of the measure in terms of encouraging additional supply. Extending the HTB scheme in this way would provide no incentive effect to encourage the building of new homes and would be likely to have a significant dead-weight element and a high Exchequer cost. For these reasons, there are no plans at present to extend the HTB scheme to include such properties.

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